Miasma
by The Short Story Players
Summary: Based on a quote from The Merchant of Venice. A girl longs to be pretty and finds herself entangled in an alternate universe where only she can save the human race from destruction.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to the first part of my 2-part story. I wrote thisd last year for English, based on the theme of "true beauty"

Hope you like it!!

* * *

Miasma

Prince of Morocco: Why, that's the lady: all the world desires her

The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene VIII

All she wanted was to be pretty.

Everyone else around her was prettier than she was. She wasn't ugly; just _not_ _pretty_. Even when she wore makeup, she was still a step behind the rest; behind them. The popular girls. The ones who were always one step ahead of everyone else. The ones who had their own credit cards. The ones who were always on top of the latest fashions-_in Europe_-; her _family_ in Europe didn't respond to her emails as fast as they updated their wardrobe. Yes, those girls.

Not that anyone ever said she wasn't pretty. No, every morning they said, "Good morning honey, you look lovely today" or "Hey, you look nice today". But they were lies, all lies. They saw her every day, saw her plain face, too-bushy eyebrows and chewed-off nails. Her long, gangly arms, and thin hair that wouldn't do anything, no matter how much product there was in it.

Yes, she wanted to be pretty. Her bathroom counter was crowded with cleansers, toners and moisturizers; crèmes, geleès, and scrubs; creams for her eyes, hands, feet, face, lips, nose, eyebrows, and ears. All were applied religiously every morning and evening, each label checked for only the finest Swiss, Chinese, Austrian, French, Italian, British and Cuban ingredients. But they didn't help. Nothing ever would.

She got home from school that Thursday, just like any other Thursday. She had her routine. Go to school, come home, do home work, shower. Wash her face: cleanser, toner, moisturizer, revitalizing crème, gelèe pore tightener. Then she wrote in her journal, and went to bed.

Her journal was most precious; in it lived her secrets. In it she kept her deepest desires not superficial ones. In it, she kept her stories, her songs, her poems, her dreams, her everything. In it she kept all the art that no one would ever see. They would laugh at it, just like they laughed behind her back. She never caught them, but she knew they were laughing. So she kept the journal hidden, in a small wooden box, with a lock and a key.

As she was writing in her journal that night, just like every night, something happened. It was subtle at first, just a hint of red around the edges, like it was under a red light, then it got deeper and deeper, until the entire page was deep red. She looked up. The whole room was bathed in a red light. She looked out the window and saw the moon, painted crimson. Then she saw a small sliver of pale white against the encroaching red, it was an eclipse. But what could eclipse the moon? And what bathed the earth in red light?

Mars. The moon was being eclipsed by Mars. This couldn't be happening. She got up off her bed, and went to turn on the TV, maybe there would be something on the news explaining this. She went to leave the room when she stepped in something. Something that shouldn't be there. Something glossy and reflective, like a mirror, but in a liquid form.

She couldn't contemplate the liquid glass any longer, though, because she saw something. It was herself, but it wasn't. It was definitely her, it moved when she did, but it looked different. The girl in the liquid mirror had long, smooth arms, tall, well proportioned legs and a slender, angular face. She reached down to touch the surface, but she slipped and fell flat on the floor. At least she should have hit the floor. Instead, she fell through the liquid mirror.

Down she fell, like "Alice in Wonderland", except she fell through a mirror. So really, it was more of a "Through the Looking Glass". Her laugh was swept away by the rushing air. After she had fallen for what could be a minute or a year, she hit the ground. But before she could get up, something careened into her face. It looked like a glittery snowflake. Then another, and another, until they were sticking to her, like snow, but instead of getting cold, the flakes warmed up soon they burned her skin. Her cry was covered by the snowflakes.

Then, as soon as it began, it stopped. There was no more burning, no more glitter, no more nothing. She wondered where she was. Under her was definitely a surface of some sort, so she could touch things. She could still breathe and move, so she still had a body, the snowflakes didn't just burn it all away. That was a good thing.

She got up and looked around. Fog. There was nothing but fog all around her. Then she realized she hadn't been breathing. She inhaled. So she still needed to breath. As she inhaled, a peculiar scent rode the air, not pleasant, but not horrible. Just…there. It had the faint tinge of raw meat, but nothing too horrid. She decided to see where she was and how she had gotten there.

She stood up. The fog seemed to condense around her a bit, like static. She raised her arm to wave the fog away. There in front of her was the arm of the girl in the mirror. She couldn't believe her eyes. She flexed the perfectly manicured hand, and it clenched into a fist. She released, so did it. She waved at the fog, it had a light substance, not so much fog as mist, and not so much mist as more of a cloud. As she stood contemplating the shroud around her, she didn't notice the five shadows closing in on her.

* * *

Cliffie!!!! Sorry I left it off like that!

Tune in next Thursday for the second part!!


	2. Chapter 2

A thousand pardons from the lovely fans!!! I'm really sorry I haven't posted the second half of this. I had midterms and the like. =P

So when we left off, out lovely protagonist found herself surrounded in a strange fog with shadows creeping in. Let's see what happens....

* * *

The first spoke, startling her out of her reverie. "What is this, sister dear? What weird sachet is this that lands so capriciously on our heath?"

Said the Second, "Is the sixth, my dear, to complete our circle."

The First again spoke, "Very well, come my sisters, let us purge our dear moor of this fog." And at once, there was a rushing sound and the fog was torn away in tatters not unlike a spider web being blown away on the wind.

And then it was gone. She stood in the middle of a barren field surrounded by five of the most beautiful women she had ever seen in her life. One, she guessed was the leader was taller than the others, with long, dark curly hair framing her face in a way that made her look sinister and yet at the same time, good-humored. The only thing she held in reserve was her black eyes glinted with a malevolence that showed no weakness.

"Welcome, my dear," the leader said, in honeyed tones, "was your journey pleasant?"

"Where am I?"

"You, my dear are standing on the Moors of Miasma."

"The What of Where?"

"Moors of Miasma." Said the second one, slightly shorter than the leader, with straight auburn hair and hard green eyes to rival the black of the leader, "Not a real genius, this one, eh?"

"She will suffice," said a sharp voice coming from her left. This voice belonged to an Asian woman of medium build with eyes just as hard as the first two, but her hair, contrary to the first two, was black and cut close to her jaw line. "She is not perfect, but she will do."

"I like her." A fourth voice piped in. She turned around to see a petite girl with platinum-blonde hair she could sit on and blue eyes with the color and warmth of a glacier's heart.

"This means I'm not the youngest anymore," whispered the quiet voice belonging to the last sister. She was smaller than the others; almost a child. Her hair was black, like the leader, but cut short and spiked up. Her eyes were what drew attention. They were violet, but what really set her apart was the fact that they were open, honest and warm. They conveyed a sense of comfort she did mot receive from the four others.

"Where exactly is Miasma?" She inquired to the leader.

"It is a secret known only to the five of us." She replied, as if she had asked what color the sky was. It was a cloudy grey that didn't look like it was going to be sunny any time soon.

"Well, she knows now," said the small pixie-like girl.

"True," replied the leader, "so six of us know. Girl," she said addressing their captive, because she was beginning to feel like one, "did anyone see you leave your own world?"  
"No. I'm in a different world?"

"Well, you're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure," Said the second sister, the redhead.

"Our settlement is down that hill," said the leader she motioned to a valley with six cottages arranged in a circle and a central well in the middle. She motioned to her sisters, "Shall we go and show our new sister her dwellings?"

The other four nodded. The youngest, pixie-like, walked over saying; "If you want," she whispered, "you can come to my home and I'll explain what you want to know."

"Thank you," she whispered back, "you are the only one who has offered me hospitality."

The pixie-girl shrugged. "It's my thing. It's what I do." They laughed. At least in this world, she had a friend.

When they got to the little town, she realized each cottage had a symbol on the front step. The first and grandest house had a coil with a circle in the center. The second was an upside-down U, the third, an angular teardrop. The fourth was a group of six slashes on a diagonal slope and the fifth was three wavy lines. She looked at the last house. Engraved in the stone was a heart. She wondered what the different symbols meant.

The pixie led her into the house with the wavy lines.

"So," the pixie said as the pair walked in, "what do you want to know?"  
"I want to know," she said, "what the deal is with the whole 'sister' this and 'sister' that. I don't think any of you are actually related."

"Bingo."

"So what's up with that?"

"Well, I guess it started with…her."

"Who?"

"Her. The Leader. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, r-e-e-e-ally mean looking."

"Yeah."

"Well, she was the first one here."

"How did she get here?"

"Ha, wouldn't we all like to know that." She rolled her eyes. "The thing is, no one knows how another gets here. We all arrive according to how we fit into here. We're all here for a reason. But the only ones who know it are the two oldest sisters and they won't tell the rest of us until the moon is full."

"Moon?"

"You'll see tonight."

"What's up with the different symbols on the front of the houses?"  
"They represent us, our powers." At the blank stare from her companion, she continued, "Each of us has our own powers, the funny thing is, they don't have anything to do with us."

"Can one of your powers make me beautiful?" she interjected, suddenly, seeing the reason she had come here.

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes."

The pixie handed her a mirror. She gasped. She was beautiful. She was the girl in the mirror liquid. No, she was prettier than the girl in the mirror liquid. So why was she here, and did this have to do with the eclipse?

"So, what's your power?"  
The pixie held out her palm, there, twisting like it belonged there, was a miniature tornado. "Air," She whispered. "I control air."

"What about everyone else? What do they do?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You'll see tonight." She said with her head bent down. All of a sudden, she looked fragile, breakable. "Go, now." She said in a harsh voice. She looked up her face was contorted, her eyes not their usual soft violet, but the harsh black of the Leader.

She ran as fast as she could to the cottage that she took to be hers, the one with a heart. As she closed the door, she saw she was not alone. Standing in the shadows, was the small blonde. "Hello," she said, "nice place you have here."

"What do you want?"

"Just to tell you that meddlers will be dealt with," she said, examining her nails.  
"What do you mean?"

"We have ways of knowing what you're up to." She said with a malicious grin. She was suddenly a little too close for comfort. "I am the enforcer of all laws here, _girl._ I _am_ the law. If you go snooping where you ought not to be, _I_ will know. Am I understood?" She hissed in her ear.

"Yes" she replied in a whisper.

"Good" the blonde replied. "In a few hours, you will know _everything_."

"Wait!" She called before the Enforcer left.

"Yes?" She turned.

"What's your power?"

"Water" and with that, she left.

She decided to spend the rest of the afternoon looking through the house. There was a study, a small library, a bedroom, a kitchen a garden and a bathroom. While she was exploring the study, she found the middle sister, the Asian, whose power controlled fire. She found the redheaded second-oldest in the garden.

"I was wondering when I would finally get to speak to you alone," she said, her back turned.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, my dear, you are the final addition to our family."

"Can you answer me something first?"  
"Of course, my dear, anything"

"Why did I change when I came to Miasma?"  
"What do you mean?"

"I mean I wasn't this pretty before I came here."  
"Some of us just change," she said off-handedly

"That helps." She said sarcastically. Then she noticed he garden was surrounded by a wall. "What's beyond that wall?" she asked.

"Void."

"What's 'void'?"

"Nothing."

"No, really, what is it?"  
"Exactly what I said, nothing, there is no matter, no energy, no nothing. If anything were to fall into it, it would be gone forever." And with that, she vanished.

That evening, she looked in the mirror, examining her new features , the perfect nose, the smaller ears, it was all perfect. Her explorations were interrupted by the leader.

"Come," she beckoned. "The time has come at last for the moon to be full."

As they walked, she asked the leader, "What is your power? There are only four elements, and your other sisters have them."

"_Me_, you think to restrict _me_ to mundane elements? No, silly girl, I control something much greater. Minds."

She was going to say something but they had arrived. They were at the moor where she had arrived in Miasma. There was a stone table with six chairs around it and the six symbols from the houses in the village were engraved at each of the places at the table. The Leader took her place at the large, ornate chair set in front of the symbol for minds. As she took her place at the empty seat with the heart, the leader stood up again. "And then there were six." She said, "Water," she gestured to the blonde, "Fire," to the Asian girl, "Earth," to her second in command, "Air," to the pixie, looking quietly at her feet, "and Minds." She gestured to herself. "But tonight we are joined by our sixth sister, Life." She gestured across the table. "Yes, life, the ability to give and take it away. Now the moon is full, now Life, you are able to take part in our life. Did you wonder, now, how I stopped Air from telling you more about our way of life? Yes, I know everyone's secrets, except they aren't really secrets any more," She added with a malicious grin. "Yes, I watched your world, looking for a girl who wanted to be pretty, who, when she got here wouldn't go back." Another malevolent grin, "now we can finally fight our way through the fabric of reality to bring about a new world where there is only one true beauty, the kind that every one can see. The kind they shunned me for not having. I ran away from that world hundreds of years ago. Now I will be back, we will be the gods of our new world, and the humans will worship us. We will create a perfect race, yes, together, the elements, the power over minds, and the power of life."

"No, we won't," said the girl now called Life. "I can't enslave the human race, I won't."

"_Well you can't leave,"_ whispered Minds, but not out loud, it was _inside_ her mind, the powers were taking effect, "_You made your decision. You wouldn't want to go back, would you? you wouldn't want to go back to_ that_ would you? The people laughing behind your back? If you join us, everyone will be on the same level, _everyone_ will be beautiful" _

"_But, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what other people see."_ She looked at Air _"What really matters is what you see in yourself."_

"_But what's inside of _you _that matters?"_

"_I write, in my journal"_

"_They would just laugh"_

"_How do you know?"_

"_I control minds, child, I see all"_

"You don't control my mind anymore!" and she severed the connection between her and Minds. "I'm going back home!"

"How?" Minds asked mockingly, "How will the ugly duckling get back home?" She crooned.

"With some help from my new friend. Air," she held out her hand. "Will you come with me?"

The pixie girl looked up, hope shining in her violet eyes.

"_**ENOUGH!!! I WILL HAVE ORDER!"**_ screamed Minds.

"The wind can't be contained, you know." Air stood up defiantly and grabbed the hand offered to her. They rose up on a rising air current that took them towards her house.

"After them!" the furious mind-controller yelled.

"What do we do now?" asked Air

"I have an idea, bring us to my garden."

"Ok, it's your life."

"Exactly"

The others finally found them.

"They're in the garden!" cried Earth.

They found them standing on top of the wall. "One false move and we'll jump." She addressed the crowd.

"Now dears," said Minds, "come down here and we can talk about this reasonably."

"About what?"

"Just get down here, minx!"

"I told you I'd jump" She said calmly.

And she did.

The great thing about having the power to control life is that you can turn a Void into a portal back to the dimension you came from. The pair landed back in her bedroom where the adventure had started. The room was no longer red, the mirror was on the wall, not melted on the floor, and the journal was on her bed where it was before.

"So," said Air, "now what?"

"Now," she said, picking the journal up, "We write a really cool story."

"My name's really Emma," the girl formerly known as Air said.

"Well, we have one more thing in common," the other Emma replied. And they started their story together.

* * *

Just a note, I wrote this story off of both the quote and originally as a short story for freshman English with a theme of "true beauty". This is what I made.

What did you think? Reviews are better than coffee ice cream and listening to Within Temptation!!


End file.
